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LHS senior named Boys and Girls Club of Greater Lowell's Youth of the Year

By Hiroko Sato, hsato@lowellsun.com

Updated:
04/22/2013 08:01:29 AM EDT

LOWELL -- The 2:30 p.m. bell at Lowell High School used to signal the time for José Molina to hop on a city bus and hit McDonald's.

Working until 10 p.m. twice during the week and all weekend long at the fast-food chain helped his single mother put food on the table, the 17-year-old said. Still, that wasn't enough to buy the family new mattresses to replace ones that became infested with bedbugs last winter, forcing him to sleep on the floor.

But the teenager insists his hardship is trivial compared to what many youngsters who come to the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Lowell are going through. Many don't even have parents, while he has his family, including his grandparents, Molina said.

That makes the high-school senior want to help youths more, spending all the time he has left in the week to help them do homework, prepare food for them and play with them.

And after doing that and devoting himself to leadership roles at the Boys and Girls Club for the past two years, Molina has been chosen as the club's 2013 Youth of the Year.

"It was something I really worked hard for," an excited Molina said.

The awarding of the Youth of the Year title -- the club's prime recognition for one's service to the community, academic success, moral character and public-speaking ability, among other qualities -- comes more than two years after Molina began volunteering hours at the local club as a way to become more social.

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Born in Puerto Rico, Molina, whose family moved to Lowell when he was 1, said he was a talkative, outgoing boy. But as his family continued to move around places -- mostly in the U.S. and sometimes in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic -- he started to feel there was no point of trying to be accepted by his classmates.

After giving up his participation on the high-school track team for the McDonald's job just before his junior year, he decided to make use of every bit of spare time left to give back to the community. He became a reliable volunteer at the Boys and Girls Club, where he had helped during some events with his sister, Yomara Molina, 19, now a freshman at Middlesex Community College.

Still feeling guarded around students of his age at that time, Molina became a mentor to many 8-12-years-olds, playing foosball and acting as a referee for ballgames in parks. The youngsters taught him a lot, Molina said, remembering how a boy who lost his mother to the 2010 Haiti earthquake told him about it.

"I was shocked how he talks about it like a regular thing that happens in life, and he is so open about it. They are strong," he said of the kids at the club.

Molina also became involved in the Keystone Club, the Boys and Girls Club's teen leadership arm, for which he now serves as the president. Preparing for and speaking at the club's national and regional conferences and raising money gave Molina self-confidence. Meeting new friends from various parts of the country made it easier for him to socialize, he said.

His success in the club resulted in him being chosen as one of 13 members to serve on the Boys and Girls Club of America Teen Advisory Council out of 5,000 candidates across the country, according to Joseph Hungler, executive director of the Greater Lowell club. Also, he has received a President's Volunteer Service Award for having volunteered more than 500 hours during 2012.

And Molina, who hopes to study political science at UMass Lowell in the fall, is interning 10 hours a week at U.S. Rep. Niki Tsongas' local office.

Molina, who moved to Pawtucketville in August from his aunt's house in South Lowell, said he knows how stressful life can be when people don't have the financial means to live on their own. But he is content with his life with his family, and his experiences fuel his desire to help others.

"He is well respected throughout," Hungler said of Molina. "He takes advantage of opportunities."

Hungler said club staff members try to build relationships with students who come through the doors so they can discuss their life and career goals and steer them in the right direction.

"The best part of the job is seeing our kids achieve success and be the people who we are really proud of," Hungler said.

Molina's mother, Ana Feliz, said she's proud of her son.

"He gets along with everyone and is respectful," she said in Spanish, translated by Molina. "It's very important that he wants to help people because it's always a dream of a mother that her kids go through a good path."

Molina's 24-year-old sister, Annabel Martinez, said Molina likes to improve himself, and knows he can do even better than he is now.

The Youth of the Year award at the local level provides Molina with a $1,000 scholarship and allows him to participate in regional competitions for the same title for up to $50,000 in scholarship.

Molina said he doesn't know what kind of job he wants to have should he pursue his interest in politics.

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